Using the power of wind to bring water to Wiltshire. This Gem is a series of designs which were drawn for a proposed windmill that would have driven pumps for water as part of the country’s smallest water company. The designs were for H.C. Stephens Esq, a highly successful businessman, M.P. and well-loved philanthropist. His…
These tools of war enabled centuries of explosive bloodshed. This Gem is an adjustable copper measure for gunpowder and shot. Without these, it would once have been impossible for riflemen and sportsmen to reliably measure the correct amount of powder for their weapon and launch projectiles. To work it, one would twist the bottom of…
A Pandora’s box that contained toxic tobacco. This Gem is a miller’s snuff-box, inlaid with a beautiful and intricate windmill design, as well as some mother of pearl. Snuff boxes such as this could be highly detailed and would require the skilled work of silversmiths, jewellers and enamelers. According to the engraving, this one comes…
An insight into a centuries-old childhood tradition. These marbles have been produced using the power of water. The way they are made is similar to how you would shape a ball of Play-Doh by rolling it between your hands to form a ball, but with marbles it is done by moving a chunk of marble between…
Turning your shirts into books. This Gem is a picture that tells a story of its own origin: a sketch of a windmill, drawn on paper which has been handmade in the traditional way. Although the sketch is titled ‘Molenpapier’, or ‘papermill’, it seems that the mill in the picture is not actually a papermill…
This sketch was drawn by the eccentric and enigmatic Karl Wood, only two years before he was sent to prison. This sketch is from the Karl Wood Collection: it forms part of a project which he called Mühlendämmerungs, or Twilight of the Mills. It was a series of attractive ink sketches capturing the twilight era of Britain’s mills, from…
On my first day at the Mills Archive, my preconceived notions of quaint Dutch windmills were quickly blown away and my eyes opened to the incredibly universal nature of mills and milling. I’ve been struck by how widely mills have been used across centuries and cultures, and this week’s Gem is a perfect example of…
“Those over there are not giants but windmills.” You’ve probably heard the common phrase ’tilting at windmills’, which, as the well-read amongst you might know, originates in the misadventures of Don Quixote – the influential novel written by the Spanish writer Cervantes in the early 17th century. As an idiom it refers to wasting time, fighting imaginary…
After being inspired by Dutch millwrighting last week, I was intrigued to explore how other cultures have developed and used similar methods. My research led me to discover a fascinating new world of milling technology. I have grown accustomed to reading about mills driven by oxen or donkeys, but the last thing I expected to…
This flour was Hitler’s secret weapon. This Gem is a photograph of two flour bags, which were produced under Government regulations during the Second World War. At the start of the war Britain was importing around 70% of its grain, but with the demands of war and the risk posed by U-Boats to imported supplies,…
